I was once young, now I am old. I have never seen a godly man abandoned, or his children ¹  forced to search for food. ² 

Our storehouses ¹  will be full, providing all kinds of food. ²  Our sheep will multiply by the thousands and fill ³  our pastures. ⁴ 

The cities of Aroer are abandoned. ¹  They will be used for herds, which will lie down there in peace. ² 

The noisy city is full of raucous sounds; the town is filled with revelry. ¹  Your slain were not cut down by the sword; they did not die in battle. ² 

“Take the harp, go through the city, forgotten prostitute! Play it well, play lots of songs, so you’ll be noticed!” ¹ 

For the fortified city ¹  is left alone; it is a deserted settlement and abandoned like the desert. Calves ²  graze there; they lie down there and eat its branches bare. ³ 

Highways are empty, ¹  there are no travelers. ²  Treaties are broken, ³  witnesses are despised, ⁴  human life is treated with disrespect. ⁵ 

“So the time will certainly come ¹  when I will punish the idols of Babylon. Her whole land will be put to shame. All her mortally wounded will collapse in her midst. ² 

א (Alef) ¹ Alas! ²  Gold has lost its luster; ³  pure gold loses value. ⁴  Jewels ⁵  are scattered on every street corner. ⁶ 

Slanderous men shed blood within you. ¹  Those who live within you eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains; ²  they commit obscene acts among you. ³ 

The arrogance of Israel testifies against it; Israel and Ephraim will be overthrown ¹  because ²  of their iniquity. Even Judah will be brought down ³  with them.

Then ¹  Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, and among his relatives, and in his own house.”

So he was addressing ¹  the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles ²  in the synagogue, ³  and in the marketplace every day ⁴  those who happened to be there.

And do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, ¹  for God is pleased with such sacrifices.

Then let this clothing and this horse be given to one of the king’s noble officials. Let him ¹  then clothe the man whom the king wishes to honor, and let him lead him about through the plaza of the city on the horse, calling ²  before him, ‘So shall it be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor!’”

So Haman took the clothing and the horse, and he clothed Mordecai. He led him about on the horse throughout the plaza of the city, calling before him, “So shall it be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor!”

I am as full of anger as you are, Lord, ¹  I am tired of trying to hold it in.” The Lord answered, ²  “Vent it, then, ³  on the children who play in the street and on the young men who are gathered together. Husbands and wives are to be included, ⁴  as well as the old and those who are advanced in years.

ק (Qof) Get up! Cry out in the night ¹  when the night watches start! ²  Pour out your heart ³  like water before the face of the Lord! ⁴  Lift up your hands ⁵  to him for your children’s lives; ⁶  they are fainting ⁷  at every street corner. ⁸ 

And wherever he would go – into villages, towns, or countryside – they would place the sick in the marketplaces, and would ask him if ¹  they could just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

But the Jews became jealous, ¹  and gathering together some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace, ²  they formed a mob ³  and set the city in an uproar. ⁴  They attacked Jason’s house, ⁵  trying to find Paul and Silas ⁶  to bring them out to the assembly. ⁷